Bowl (Tecomate)

This small, round vessel has thin walls and a wide circular opening at the top. The variegated surface is colored in white, beige, brown, and black tones that catch the light due to heavy burnishing. These surface colors represent the careful control the potter held over the firing technique and raw materials. The darker colors indicate fire-clouding, where the vessel came into direct contact with a burning material during the firing process. While fire-clouding can be accidental, the careful sectioning of these fire-clouds suggests that this was an intentional aesthetic choice of the potter. The surface of this example is gadrooned, meaning the potter dragged a sharp implement vertically across the vessel body to create a series of subtle convex curves. The final shape is reminiscent of a squash, recalling an organic predecessor.

Before the invention of ceramic technology, people prepared their food in containers made from hollowed gourds. This vessel type, called a tecomate, emulates the natural contours of the fruit. The name is derived from tecomatl, the Nahuatl (the language of the Mexica, or Aztecs) word for gourd. Indeed, early tecomate may have been made using gourds as molds. Tecomate are among the earliest vessel forms in Mesoamerica, first appearing in the Early Formative period (1500 - 900 BCE). Versatile and portable, tecomate were suitable for multiple purposes, including storage, cooking, and serving. One function was as receptacles for community feasts, as the wide mouth of the vessel allowed for easily serving a large group. A fluted tecomate from Paso de la Amada, a site in Chiapas, tested positive for traces of cacao (Powis et al. 2008). This example may have been used to serve cacao, or other foods such as maize tamales or cooked manioc.

Beyond their function as feasting vessels, tecomate were also used as funerary offerings across Mesoamerica, demonstrating the diverse cultural groups engaging with this pottery form. One impressive burial with tecomate was uncovered at Tlalpan, near Mexico City, and features ten individuals interred in a circular arrangement (Escamilla 2017).

Tecomate declined in popularity in the Late Formative period (300 BCE - 100 CE). The transition away from tecomate to more narrative and representational forms may be related to broader cultural changes occurring at the end of this period, including an increase in sedentism and social hierarchy (Arnold 1999). Nonetheless, tecomate remained a dominant ceramic form for centuries used by diverse communities across Mesoamerica. The Met collection includes tecomate from Tlatilco, Las Bocas, and the Gulf Coast (see MMA 1979.206.1221, 2014.244.3, 1989.314.18).

Caitlin Reddington Davis

Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow August 2026

References

Arnold, Phillip J. III “Tecomates, Residential Mobility, and Early Formative Occupation in Coastal Lowland Mesoamerica.” In Pottery and People: A Dynamic Interaction, edited by James M. Skibo and Gary M. Feinman, pp. 159–170. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1999.

Clark, John E., and Michael Blake. “The Power of Prestige: Competitive Generosity and the Emergence of Rank Societies in Lowland Mesoamerica.” In Factional Competition and pPlitical Development in the New World, edited by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel and John W. Fox, pp. 17-30. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994.

Escamilla, Jimena Rivera. “Proyecto de salvamento arqueológico Tlalpan 2017.” En La arqueología oficial mexicana, a principios del siglo XXI: estudios de caso, edited by Pedro Francisco Sanchez Nava, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, 2019.

Flannery, Kent V. and Joyce Marcus Early Formative Pottery of the Valley of Oaxaca. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1994.

Lesure, Richard G. “Vessel Form and Function in an Early Formative Ceramic Assemblage from Coastal Mexico.” Journal of Field Archaeology 25(1), pp. 19-36, 1998.

Powis, Terry G., W. Jeffrey Hurst, María del Carmen Rodríguez, Ponciano Ortíz, Michael Blake, David Cheetham, Michael D. Coe, and John G. Hodgson “The Origins of Cacao Use in Mesoamerica.” Mexicon 30(2), pp. 35–38, 2008.